


How to Support Your Stubborn, Injured Fiance: 9 Easy Steps

by twinfinite



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Chronic Pain, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Light Angst, Post-Canon, St. Petersburg life, Yuuri reads too much WebMD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-04 21:37:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17312297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twinfinite/pseuds/twinfinite
Summary: Victor is determined to make his great comeback even if it kills him.Not everyone in his life is as optimistic about the situation as he is, though.





	How to Support Your Stubborn, Injured Fiance: 9 Easy Steps

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ijustwannaread](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ijustwannaread/gifts).



> Victor's injury is exactly the same as his real-world inspiration's 2012 injury. Is this rendition medically accurate? Probably not, but I did read Evgeni Plushenko's wikipedia page multiple times so let's hope that helped.

1.

 

            Unlike most things in Victor’s life recently, the pain starts quietly and without drama. It’s just a regular practice session only two weeks after Russian Nationals, and he isn’t even doing a particularly impressive maneuver. He’s halfway through a simple layover spin when he feels a twinge in his lower back, and it’s honestly so mild that he barely notices it.

            The only difference between this feeling and the typical aches of an older skater is that this specific pain persists. He’s forced to take more notice when he lands a triple toe loop and feels the same sensation with increased intensity. He glances over his shoulder towards where Yakov is standing, his face unreadable. The jump, despite the circumstance, had been flawless.

            “Do that again. You can get better height,” Yakov demands.

            Well, it was almost flawless.

            He loops back around and sets himself into position for another try, already putting the memory of the last attempt out of his mind. Sadly, the new, higher jump’s landing hurts once again. He’s not sure whether or not the discomfort registered visibly on his face, but Yakov doesn’t seem to notice, and if Yakov doesn’t notice, that means it can’t be that big a deal.

            Victor has been in this sport for long enough to know that these things need to be taken seriously; if you want to make it through a grueling season of skating unscathed, there’s no room to take pain lightly. He also likes to think of himself as an optimist, however, and he doesn’t like to assume the worst of a situation.

            Still, the non-optimist side of him whispers such cruel things. _You’re in denial, old man. Who are you to think you can handle a full season without falling apart?_

“That was beautiful, Victor!” Yuuri calls, instantly snapping Victor out of it. He hadn’t seen him come in.

 Yuuri prefers not to intrude on Victor’s practice hours, so the fact that he’s here means that it’s about time for his session to be over. It takes Victor a second to locate where his fiancé is standing, but once he does, he smiles and does a dramatic bow. He can’t see Yakov’s expression, but he senses that he’s rolling his eyes.

            “We still have time to go over it one more time,” Yakov growls.

            It’s no use, of course. Victor’s mind has already left practice-mode and he’s halfway across the ice towards the promise of dinner and a night in with Yuuri and Makkachin.

            “We can go over it again as many times as you want tomorrow!” Victor yells over his shoulder. “I don’t want to keep my Yuuri waiting.”

            What he doesn’t say is that his body is already aching all over and that he isn’t confident that he even has another good practice run left in him.

            “How was practice?” Yuuri asks as they walk out of the rink together, arm in arm.

            “It was good!” he replies.

            It was painful, he thinks.

 

2.

 

Yakov, unlike Victor, has never in his life been an optimist. When he first notices that Victor is in pain, he begins by considering the worst possible scenario. After all, any injury could have the potential to be career ending.

At this point, he knows better than to waste his energy on being mad that Victor didn’t tell him the second there was an issue. He knows that it just means Victor trusts him to make the right judgement if his skating is being visibly affected, and somewhere deep down he also knows that Victor isn’t a complete idiot. He can be practical when he really needs to be.

Still, it’s been hard to watch it unfold. He’s first suspicious that Victor may not be at his best when he begins to be uncharacteristically conservative with the amount of times during practice that he attempts certain jumps. He also notices that Victor is now incorporating a newly elaborate stretching regime into his warmup, in what he’d foolishly hoped was just a mature decision to be more proactive.

He knows for sure Victor’s in pain when he steps out of a jump during a practice run through and simply doesn’t keep going. The music plays on, but Victor doesn’t glide into his next move. Instead, he looks a bit stunned, and his face is ashen. Yakov gives him a moment to prove that he’s just tired and needs a rest, but when Victor doesn’t continue, he cuts the music and gestures for him to leave the ice.

“Where does it hurt?” he says curtly.

Victor gestures wordless to his lower back.

“For how long?” Yakov already has an estimation, but he needs to hear Victor acknowledge it for himself.

“It’s never been this bad before,” Victor says, more to himself than to his coach.

“But when did it start?”

“A few weeks ago. It hasn’t been anything I can’t skate through. Sometimes I barely notice it.”

Yakov has heard enough.

“The trainer isn’t in this late in the day, but we’ll go tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Go home, Victor. We’re done for today.”

“I’m working with Yuuri tomorrow morning,” Victor says.

“If you don’t deal with this now, you won’t be any use to anyone,” Yakov responds. “I’m not working with you until you’re cleared by a medical professional.”

Sometimes Yakov can’t help but feel bitter that he has to fight Yuuri Katsuki for Victor’s time and energy, and this is certainly one of those times. Victor looks so crestfallen at the idea of putting his own needs above Yuuri’s precious practice time.

“Yuuri would not be happy to hear that you’ve been so careless, Victor,” he chastises. It’s almost a threat.

“I’ll meet you at 7:30,” Victor says quickly, picking up on the danger of being told on.

As much of a nuisance it is to share Victor, at least Yuuri is a powerful bargaining chip.

 

3.

 

In an odd way, Victor has trained people to expect a dramatic reaction from him to everything. He’s always been one to wax poetic about the great pains of a paper cut, so his friends tend to assume that he’ll be the same way about all aspects of his wellbeing. Yakov’s really the only one who has been by his side through his more serious ups and downs, and he was always the one to guide him through the knee injuries that plagued him in his earlier career. Victor never made a fuss, and Yakov learned that quiet from Victor means danger.

Yuuri, on the other hand, has learned a great many things about Victor from the past year they’ve spent side by side, but he’s never seen this part of Victor’s life at all. Victor was always the untouchable skating god; he certainly never advertised even the slightest bit of behind the scenes struggle to anyone.

Victor knows that he can be private when he wants to be, and he doesn’t blame Yuuri for not noticing his recent pain. He likes to bottle up this kind of unpleasantness so deep down inside that he can practically forget about it. With this in mind, he’s also acutely aware that when he cancels his morning practice with Yuuri, he’ll be blindsiding him.

Blindsiding Yuuri is also his specialty, so he decides not to waste any time with it. He opens up the conversation the moment they get out of the car on the way home from the rink that night.

“Yuuri, I’m cancelling practice tomorrow,” he says, not even giving Yuuri a chance to get through the door of their apartment.

“What! What happened? What did I do?” Yuuri shrieks, spinning around to meet Victor’s eyes. Just as expected, he looks panicked. Victor can’t help but quirk a smile at how Yuuri’s first thought is always that it’s his fault. Classic Yuuri.

“I seem to have done something to my back. Yakov is making me see a doctor tomorrow,” Victor casually explains, trying to get the words in before Yuuri has the chance to descend into a frenzy of creating possible scenarios in his mind for why Victor has decided to abandon him. He can recognize that look anywhere at this point.

Yuuri pauses, his brow somehow becoming even more furrowed with worry and confusion. Victor still doesn’t know quite how to deal with this, so he just turns away and enters their shared home. He hopes that his nonchalance will inspire Yuuri to calm down and leave the subject alone.

“How long have you been hurting?” Yuuri asks.

There’s a hint of accusation in his voice, and Victor recognizes the subtext behind it. He understands, in a way. Yuuri has been so open to him with his own battles, both physical and mental. He probably trusted that Victor would do the same for him.

He’s also a bit surprised that Yuuri knew immediately that this wasn’t something that just happened today. Yuuri must have been noticing more than he gave him credit for. He feels a bit bad for underestimating him. He decides to give Yuuri full honesty, mostly to assuage his budding feelings of guilt.

He sits down on the couch and gestures for Yuuri to sit with him.

“It hasn’t been that long. I suppose I strained it a few weeks ago, but I’m not even sure exactly what happened. I assumed it might get better, but it seems it’s only gotten worse.”

“It was really dumb of you not to say anything before now,” Yuuri huffs. “You should have taken time off.”

He’s not wrong.

“In my defense, it really wasn’t that bad until today!” Victor retorts, despite knowing he doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on.

“Do you want me to go with you tomorrow? To see the doctor?”

“I don’t think Yakov will let me but that’s so sweet of you to offer!” Victor exclaims, wrapping himself around Yuuri in a big hug. He does this in the hope that Yuuri will stop looking so lost and anxious, but instead the twisting motion just sends another sharp pain coursing from his lower back all the way down to his feet. He quickly recoils, and with a distinct lack of subtly.

Yuuri jumps off the couch in response, as if Victor’s pain has activated a fight or flight response in him that’s heavily leaning towards flight. He’s starting to look at Victor like a piece of glass, and he does not like that one little bit.

“What happened?” he exclaims.

“I just twisted too hard,” Victor says, trying to return his facial expression to less of a grimace. “It’s nothing you did, I’m okay.”

“Can I help at all?” Yuuri asks. He sits back down very gingerly.

            “You can help by not worrying so much!” Victor answers with a smile. “This may be nothing.”

 

4.

 

            “I can’t be sure exactly what this is without an X-ray or a MRI, but it’s certainly something.”

            This is what the doctor says to Victor after a very short examination the following morning. Yakov nods grimly while Victor, sitting shirtless on the cold exam table, still doesn’t feel ready to accept a roadblock in what’s supposed to be his grand return.

            “Which would you recommend?” Yakov asks, practical as always.

            “Can I still skate for now?” Victor asks. His priorities very rarely align with Yakov’s.

            The doctor looks at him with a worn, knowing look. He’s been the man on call to deal with the injuries of all of St. Petersburg’s finest professional skaters for nearly a decade, and they tend to be the most obnoxious patients of all. He’s worked with Victor many times over the years, and while he’s by far not the worst, he’s stubborn. He can smell Victor’s desperate denial a mile away.

            “I think you know the answer to that question, Nikiforov,” he replies, and then turns his attention to Yakov. “I’ll have him in for an MRI. I can try to get him scheduled as soon as possible, but it could be a few days. Until we know what damage he’s done, he should hold off on any activity that may strain the injury.”

            Victor puts his clothing back on with a grim expression, saying nothing. He leaves with Yakov, and as they walk down the hall, the doctor can hear Yakov’s booming voice in the distance.

            “It might be time to consider withdrawing from European Championships, you know. You only have two weeks.”

            The doctor can’t hear Victor’s response, but he knows well enough that as long as Victor Nikivorov is still in one piece in two weeks’ time, he intends to give Europe the comeback he’s been promising.

 

5.

 

            When Victor doesn’t show up to practice the following morning, everyone notices immediately. It’s just another hazard of being a living legend; there’s absolutely no way for his time off to fly under the radar. What’s more, news travels fast within the Russian skating community, so by mid-afternoon practically everyone knows what’s happened.

            Yuri hears the news about Victor’s mysterious injury while getting ready for practice in the locker room. The information comes from Georgi, who heard it from Mila, who knows because she was getting some ice from the medical trainers for a muscle she’d pulled and overheard Victor arguing with Yakov about withdrawing from the next competition.

            This new information makes Yuri feel things that he doesn’t know how to classify exactly, so he assumes it must be anger. Why did that idiot have to go and get himself injured right when the season was looking to be so interesting? And why was he just now hearing about this from Georgi, of all people? Victor could have at least had the common decency to text him about it.

            Maybe it’s not true, he thinks. Mila could have misunderstood what was being said. He’s irritated that’s he’s even wasting any energy thinking about this when he should be out on the ice perfecting his quad flip so he can shove it in Victor’s face during the next Grand Prix final, but he also really needs to know. He has half a mind to just call Victor and yell at him, but there’s no need for that course of action once Yuuri strolls into the locker room.

            “Hey, Katsudon! What’s this about Victor being all fucked up?”

            Yuuri turns around and gives Yuri a weary, appraising look.

            “We’re waiting on Victor to get an MRI tomorrow, so I don’t know what to tell you,” he responds. “He hurt his back so he’s resting for now.”

            Yuri has known Yuuri for long enough now to see the anxiety written into his expression; he’s trying to be calm for his sake right now, but he can tell that Yuuri feels bad. There’s a weird, unspoken tension in the air of the rink these days. Every knows that it’s a more than a little bit insane for Victor to be both competitor and coach. Maybe if he was just competing, Victor would have an easier time getting back into his rhythm as one of the oldest skaters still out there.

            They never say this to Victor or Yuuri’s face, of course. There are some days where Yuri really, really, wants to, but for whatever reason this isn’t one of them. Maybe it’s the fact that Yuuri is clearly already thinking this himself, especially now.

            Yuri is torn. He’s mad at Victor for jeopardizing what could be the most epic season of skating ever, and he’s equally mad at Yuuri for getting all sad about it, too. That loser.

            “That asshole’s probably just being a wimp. I bet you he’s fine,” Yuri insists.

            Yuuri doesn’t look like he believes him exactly, but he does smile a little. Seeing Yuuri look even marginally more at ease also quells Yuri’s growing frustration at the situation just a tad.

            “Don't let that asshole make you waste any more time. Let’s go practice the quad flip while he’s not here to get all judgmental about how we’re doing it wrong.”

            The two spend the rest of the afternoon having a fairly productive session, all things considered. Whenever people stop to ask Yuuri what’s happened to Victor, Yuri just tunes it out. These people just love their drama too much, he decides.

 

6.

 

            Victor didn’t let Yuuri come to his initial doctor’s appointment, but when Yuuri asks Victor if he would like company for his MRI, Victor doesn’t say no this time. Yuuri isn’t sure whether or not to take this as a good sign or a bad sign. Does this mean that Victor is finally learning to be more open about his own struggles, or does it mean that he’s nervous and wants emotional support? Yuuri is good at being emotional about things, but he’s not so practiced at being supportive. What’s his role supposed to be? What does Victor need from him in this situation? Does he want to talk about his fears, or does he want a distraction? Should he make light of the situation or remain serious?

            In the end, Yuuri is too paralyzed by his own endless considerations to actually deliver on any of them. The taxi ride to the clinic is spent in silence; Victor uses the time to watch the icy landscape of St. Petersburg pass by through the foggy window. Yuuri uses the time to hate himself for his failings as a fiancé.

            When they arrive, Yuuri has another chance to give an attempt at support, but Victor checks in and takes a seat in the waiting room with such practiced efficiency that Yuuri feels like there’s no window for interjection. He’s beginning to realize that his career as a professional figure skater is somewhat unusual in the fact that he’s never been seriously injured. By contrast, Victor has had two knee procedures in his past; he knows this routine far better than Yuuri. Yuuri, who has a great, long list of things that he’s irrational afraid of, is somewhat ashamed to admit that doctor’s offices make the list. How terribly unoriginal of him, he thinks.

            “How long do you think you’ll have to wait?” Yuuri asks, genuinely curious.

            “Not so long, I think,” Victor responds. “One of the perks of being famous, you know? They know me here.”

            “That’s not that fun a perk,” Yuuri says, feeling foolish.  

            True to his word, Victor’s name is called after only a few minutes of sitting in the cold waiting area. When Victor stands and begins to follow the nurse, Yuuri isn’t sure what to do.

            “Can I come back with you? Is that allowed?” he stammers.

            Victor turns back around to face him and responds with a smile.

            “There’s not much to see, sadly! I’d wait back here, at least they have magazines!”

            And with that, Victor is whisked away to some exam room out back, and Yuuri is left waiting. After scrolling through his instagram feed, he runs out of diversions for himself quickly. He ends up googling “how long does an MRI take?” and this devolves quickly into googling “causes of back pain” and after ten minutes he finds himself on the wikihow page entitled “How to support a spouse with cancer: 10 steps”. After reading the first five steps, he cuts himself off and powers down his phone for good measure. He spends the rest of the time alternating between pretending his Russian is good enough to fully comprehend the magazine selection and playing with the watch that Victor bought for him yesterday.

            Victor, as it turns, is something of a compulsive shopper when he has too much time on his hands, and this is why Yuuri is now wearing a golden Rolex to go along with a pair of Gucci shoes. He was initially mortified by the extravagance and demanded that Victor return the pile of gifts that he’d accumulated. He’s starting to think he might keep the watch, though.

            He’s zoning out watching the second-hand tick by when Victor lowers himself back into the seat next to him, and he’s a bit startled by his sudden reappearance.

            “Victor!” he exclaims. He twists in his chair to look at Victor’s expression, which is mostly sleepy.

            “That was so boring, Yuuri! I almost fell asleep!”

            “Have they given you the results yet?” Yuuri asks, wrapping his arm around Victor so he can rest his head on his shoulder.

            “The doctor is going to call me tonight. We can leave now!” Victor announces, and promptly stands up and makes a beeline for the door. Yuuri can’t help but notice that his usual grace is lacking; he’s stiff and shuffling.

           

            When the doctor does call, hours later, Victor treats the news like it’s good.

            “It’s just a herniated disk! It’s not even that bad, so I can go back to skating tomorrow as long as I’m careful to do some physical therapy! See, I told Yakov I was fine to skate.”

            To Yuuri, there’s nothing “just” about spinal disk herniation. Once Victor goes to sleep, he stays up for hours reading about it. The pictures do not look as encouraging as Victor would have him believe, and after reading the first ten pages on the condition, he once again finds himself on a googling spiral. He finally shuts off his phone after scrolling through “6 ways to care for your loved one after surgery”.

           

           

7.

 

            A week after Victor is cleared to return to practice in full, Yuri finds himself watching him like a hawk. Despite what he’d said to Yuuri previously, he knows for a fact that Victor is not a wimp. Not now, and not ever. He’s seen the Youtube video of when Victor tore his meniscus during a public practice; Victor had looked more stunned by it than anything, and he’d limped off the ice with a distinctly stiff upper lip, still waving to his legion of fans as if his skating season hadn’t just completely imploded.

            Ten years later, Victor’s attitude is the same, but Yuri can see him in real life, not just in the moments that he allows the public to see him on TV. He notices how long it takes him to warm up for practice now that he needs to add a thirty-minute, comprehensive physical therapy routine to his regimen. He sees that he takes at least two asprins before most practices, and every time he sees Victor wince through a jump, his own hands clench a bit tighter. For the most part, he stays quiet about it and tries to forget it. Today is different, however.

            “You need to get your knee higher, Yurio!” Victor calls after Yuri lands a perfectly good quad Salchow.

            Maybe it’s the fact that Yuri thought that jump had been one of the best he’d done all week, or maybe it’s just the stupid, cheerful tone that Victor used. Or maybe it’s the fact that today is his 16th birthday. Whatever it is, Yuri is absolutely not in the mood.

            “Who are you to be giving me advice, asshole?” Yuri snarls. “No one asked for your opinion. I haven’t seen you land a decent jump since your old man spine decided to crap out on you.”

            Honestly, finally exploding on Victor is a pretty cathartic. For at least five seconds, he feels slightly better. And then he looks at Victor’s stupid face, and he sees that Victor actually looks defeated by this jab. Yuuri, on the other hand, looks uncharacteristically ready to strangle him. He’s really lost his touch if Yuuri doesn’t find him even slightly scary anymore and Victor looking sad actually makes him feel bad.

            Thankfully, Victor throws back on his customary grin after a second.

            “Say that to me again after I beat you at this year’s Grand Prix Final!” he sings, and to accentuate his point, he throws himself into an admittedly beautiful quad Salchow. Yuri scowls, both at the technical prowess and at how Victor looks quite grey in the face after the landing.

           

            Despite the harsh words and their rivalry on the ice, Victor and Yuuri still take Yuri out for his birthday that night. Victor somehow convinces him to drink a few beers in two separate, sappy toasts about how he’s loved working with his favorite Russian Tiger. Yuri hates beer with a passion, and he realizes that he’s betrayed his Russian roots with how pathetic of a lightweight he is. He feels ridiculously light and warm, and more off-guard than he’d prefer. Is he drunk? Not exactly. But he feels…different.  

            When Victor leaves to get another round for all of the friends they’ve gathered for the occasion- a round that Yuri plans to firmly refuse- he casts a furtive glance towards Yuuri, who is watching his fiancé with a disgusting fondness.

            Make sure that idiot doesn’t cripple himself, Katsudon, he plans to say.

            What actually comes out is different.

            “Take care of him, Yuuri.”

            Stupid beer. He’s never drinking again.

 

 

8.

 

            After looking at his MRI, the doctors told Victor that if he was careful enough, his herniated disk should become less painful after two full weeks of conservative, non-invasive treatment measures. In those two weeks, he’s been diligently stretching multiple times a day, taking a regular dosage of anti-inflammatory medication, icing and heating his back, and seeing an acupuncturist. Some days, the pain would remain a constant presence, but on other days the treatment would seem to be truly working.

            The doctors also told him to keep his activity levels low, but instead he competes at the European Championship, narrowly beating Yuri Plisetsky with a dazzling performance bursting full of impressive quad jumps. The day of the competition was a good pain day, luckily, and the adrenaline pumping through his veins made the nagging pain almost nonexistent. When Yuuri swept him up in his arms in a congratulatory hug after the medal ceremony, he felt so light and free of any possible negativity.

            But that was two days and one long international flight ago. Now Victor can most certainly tell that it’s a bad pain day, and he hasn’t even left his bed yet. It’s not for a lack of trying, of course. He had made an attempt to heave himself out of bed as soon as his 6:30 AM alarm had begun chiming in his ear, but the throbbing in his back was intensified tenfold by the slightest motion. Yuuri, who has been spending far too much time researching solutions for chronic back pain late at night, doesn’t stir when Victor fails to stifle a moan. Yuuri thinks that Victor doesn’t know about his google searches, but he’s woken up on more than one occasion to find Yuuri still awake, eyes glued to his phone screen, at 3:00 AM. He knows it’s no coincidence that Yuuri has been starting each day with a new suggestion for pain relief.

            For the next half hour, Victor just lies in bed, defeated. He yearns for his asprin bottle, but he’s left it lying on the kitchen counter, which is just so, so far away. Finally, at 7:02 AM, Yuuri flops over and blearily opens his eyes. He squints at the alarm clock in confusion before putting on his glasses and looking at the time with full vision.

            “Victor! It’s past seven! Why’d you let me sleep through the alarm?” he yelps, scrambling out of bed.

            For a moment, Victor considers playing it cool. He could easily tell Yuuri that he wanted him to finally catch up on some sleep, or he could feign ignorance and say that he’s also just now waking up. Nevertheless, he prefers to default towards honesty, especially with Yuuri.

            “I wouldn’t say it was intentional,” he admits. “I don’t think I can get up today.”

            “What do you mean?” Yuuri asks, rubbing his eyes. He looks adorable, and if Victor weren’t so frustrated by his current physical state, he would try to drag Yuuri back into bed with him.

            “It just…hurts a lot today. From the competition. And the plane ride.”

            This is vague, but Yuuri understands. His eyes soften and he looks so tragically upset.

            “What can I do?” he asks. He’s getting less nervous about this whole thing after the last few weeks, but his ever-expressive face still reminds Victor of a young child whose mother has accidentally abandoned him at the grocery store.

            “I just have to get moving. Can you help me up?”

            That’s just another annoying thing about his back: it hurts with too much physical activity but also too little.

            “You can just stay in today,” Yuuri says coolly. “Yakov would probably appreciate it if you did. He’s worried about you, you know.”

            “I just need some more asprin and a hot shower,” Victor insists, though he does, in fact, know that Yakov would gladly accept it if he made the decision to turn today into a rest day. He may or may not have encouraged it after they’d gotten off the plane, actually. But Victor does not want to have another lonely day sitting around the house, so Yuuri doesn’t need to know that.

            Yuuri sighs and crosses his arms. He looks like he’s trying to decide whether or not to pick a fight, but he ultimately decides not to, because he leaves for a few minutes and returns with a cup of coffee and Victor’s pain medication in hand.

            “Ah, I have the best fiancé in the world!” Victor cries before downing two pills with a hearty gulp of coffee.

            “You’re supposed to take those with water,” Yuuri says crossly, but he also presses a kiss to Victor’s forehead. He can’t be that irritated by Victor’s pigheadedness for long, it seems.

            Yuuri rearranges himself in the bed so he’s facing Victor, and he gestures for him to take his hands. Victor grasps Yuuri’s hands tightly, and Yuuri delicately pulls Victor into a sitting position. Victor can’t pretend this doesn’t hurt, but once he’s gotten some momentum he finds it possible to swing his legs out of bed and stand.

            “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?” Yuuri asks.

            “Today’s just a bad day,” Victor says. He’s an optimist, after all.

            Yuuri, like Yakov, is no optimist, but he’s also very, very tired. He simply sighs again and leads Victor into the shower, where they stand under the hot spray together in preparation for another day in the cold. The heat of the water helps ease Victor’s spasming muscles for a moment, but it doesn’t touch the pain in his stomach from the excessive amounts of pain pills he’s been relying heavily on over the past few weeks.

            He knows that he’ll need to make another appointment soon, because this really isn’t working. But for now, he’s happy to wrap his arms around his Yuuri and look forward to another day on the ice together.

 

9.

 

             The lack of sleep begins to catch up to Yuuri, and three days later he wakes up to their 6:30 AM alarm to find himself feeling downright miserable. He’s seen it coming a mile away, as he’s been fatigued and congested for days, but it finally decides to hit him like a freight train. In a way, it serves him right, he supposes. He should have been more disciplined about going to bed on time, but instead he’s been repeatedly choosing to use the nighttime to stress about Victor and Victor’s skating career and his own skating career and how it seems to be an inconvenience to everyone. 

            Lately, he’s been sort of hoping that Yakov will force Victor to go easier on himself, but Yakov doesn’t have the privilege of seeing Victor wake up each morning and struggle to get going. He only gets to see the image that Victor wants him to- the living legend who can train through anything. Yuuri has been feeling guilty for not stepping in and telling Victor to take a day, but he’s also not sure if that’s quite his place, or if Victor will even listen. And if Victor doesn’t listen, maybe it’ll turn into a fight, and the fight will get ugly, and he’ll have ruined everything.

            So yeah, Yuuri’s not surprised that he wrecked his immune system. He’s all over the place. He also knows that he’s never been the one to let a little virus stop him, so he instinctively doesn’t even consider the option. He just gets out of bed and starts putting on a pot of coffee like usual, despite his pounding headache and overall malaise. Victor finds him sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space. From the way Victor entered the room, Yuuri can tell that today isn’t a very good day. The last few days have been good pain days, but the telltale shuffling gait indicates that the luck has run out.

            Victor sits at the table across from him with an odd, scrunched up look on his face.

            “Yuuri, my beautiful love, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you look absolutely hideous.”

            It takes Yuuri a moment to process this, which is really not a good sign, he realizes.

            “You’re so mean,” he croaks. Not exactly the clever retort he would have hoped for.

            “Oh, and you sound hideous, too,” Victor continues. “As your coach, I advise you to consider going back to bed.”

            “Are you really saying that as my coach, Victor? Because my coach has set a really bad example for his student when it comes to taking days off.” Suddenly Yuuri is getting angry; he isn’t surprised by Victor’s hypocrisy but that doesn’t mean it isn’t pissing him off.

            Victor doesn’t seem like he knows what to do with that response. His previous, playful look vanishes, and now he looks just worried and maybe a little hurt.

            “Fine then, as your fiancé I think you should be careful. You haven’t seemed yourself lately.”

            Yuuri honestly hadn’t known he had been so noticeably falling apart. He’s a little embarrassed and feels himself growing defensive.

            “I’m just tired, Victor. I haven’t been sleeping well. Let me finish my coffee in peace.”   

            But Victor never goes down without a fight; instead, he gets up and puts his arms around Yuuri. Left off guard by the unexpected hug, Yuuri barely has time to protest before Victor moves one hand to feel Yuuri’s face, which is admittedly damp with sweat.

            “You’re too warm,” Victor announces.

            Somehow this comes as a surprise to Yuuri; he hasn’t considered that he might actually have a fever. But it makes so much sense- he really does feel like crap.

            Yuuri opens his mouth, ready to tell Victor that he’s perfectly prepared to down some Dayquil and get on with his day. He’s had viruses like this plenty of times before and he knows his limits. In his honest, pessimist’s opinion, he is going to be fine whether or not he takes it slow today. Sure, practice might suck, but it’ll suck worse if Yuri Plisetsky gets another gold medal at the Grand Prix Final this year. 

            But this sounds too close to what he’s been hearing out of Victor’s mouth these days, and he’s heard it too many times to allow it to come out of his own. He has a better idea.

            “As my fiancé, why don’t you stay home and take care of me, then?” he challenges. He throws Victor a pleading, helpless look that he knows he can’t refuse.

            Yuuri expects resistance. Instead, Victor just looks so deeply, profoundly in love with the idea of spending the day together; it’s so completely domestic and also something that neither of them has ever really done. The moment they arrived in St. Petersburg they hit the ground running; their shared life as fairly famous professional athletes has almost never left them with a single day just to themselves, free of obligations. Yuuri has never really stopped to give this much thought, before now, but it strikes him as outrageous now that he has.

            “Of course I will!” Victor says, and he goes to pull Yuuri up from the kitchen chair, completely forgetting his own current predicament. The attempt to take on Yuuri’s full body weight almost floors him, and in the end it’s Yuuri who’s holding Victor up.

            “Sorry, sorry…” Victor pants.

            “It’s okay,” Yuuri reassures him, though he’s feeling winded from the exertion as well, and more than a bit nauseous.

            Together, they hobble their way back to the bedroom, where they curl back under the warm blankets, arms intertwined. Victor calls Yakov and tells him that he’s taking the day off to care for his poor, ailing fiancé, and Yuuri has to wonder if Victor really thinks this day off is for his sake.

            He spends the rest of the morning dozing, and when he wakes up feeling overheated and disoriented, Victor is there to hand him a glass of water and a few pills that Yuuri can’t even identify. He takes them without bothering to ask what they are, because he trusts Victor.

            “Your fever’s worse, Yuuri,” Victor says. “This should help.”

            Okay, maybe this day isn’t entirely for Victor’s sake. The two of them make quite the sorry pair. Yuuri can practically hear Yuri calling them pathetic as if the cranky teenager were here in the room with them.

            It’s for both of them, Yuuri decides. They needed this. By midday, the combination of medicine and sleep has kicked in, and Yuuri is beginning to feel human again. Victor has gone the entire day without taking more painkillers, and this is a small victory for both Victor’s stomach and Yuuri’s stress levels.

He and Victor spend the rest of the day channel surfing on the couch, lazy in a way they never let themselves be. For once, Victor achieves his doctor’s recommended dose of a low activity day.

            Maybe tomorrow things won’t have changed much. Victor will still be stubborn and plagued by chronic pain. Yuuri will still be anxious and unsure of how to deal with this new life he’s living. But in this moment, Yuuri is just grateful to have Victor here, wrapped in his arms.     


End file.
